formulating ideas - Where do you start? |
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Suave
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 25 Jan 2015 Location: Thailand Status: Offline Points: 25027 |
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Posted: 18 Jun 2019 at 1:02am |
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Ya, sometimes those prompts can be horrendous, lol.
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NilesPerry
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 10 Dec 2014 Location: Nevada Status: Offline Points: 2199 |
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I think I like your approach better than the way I've been doing things. You pick the least likeliest prompt, where I've been picking the one I think works best. I think I shall apply your technique in the fall and see how it works out.
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ChristiLB
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 12 Apr 2019 Location: NY Status: Offline Points: 2314 |
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Haha thanks guys! I always like to try and respond to everyone that takes the time to respond to my posts but then there were so many and I didn’t know which was the best way to go LOL
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NilesPerry
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 10 Dec 2014 Location: Nevada Status: Offline Points: 2199 |
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Yeah, what Tim G said... |
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Tim G
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 02 Nov 2016 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 6626 |
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Now THAT is a post.
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Rhyming Story R2: Flying On Empty (Thriller)
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ChristiLB
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 12 Apr 2019 Location: NY Status: Offline Points: 2314 |
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WOW! Thank you all so much for so many great comments and suggestions - I'm actually blown away by how many of you commented, and how great and varied everyone's processes are. I can definitely see areas I need to work on as far as brainstorming. It sounds like a lot of you jot a number of ideas down, whereas I tend to mull several different things over in my mind, trying to mold them into one big ball that I can roll with haha. I will have to start making notes from now as I think things over.
I'm very jealous of everyone that is able to see their prompts and then fall asleep thinking about them - I tried to do that but my brain doesn't shut off...I'm so concerned with the deadline, running out of time, etc. That I actually get stuck in this wide awake state racking my brain trying to come up with something. Maybe with the new ideas you've suggested that will change. I want to respond to certain things you've all suggested but instead of making a separate post for each one (and having 10 or so posts right in a row all from me) I'm going to make the comments all in the body of this post - I hope that works for everyone, and thanks again for all the helpful ideas. I already feel at ease with so many new techniques to try for next time.
I Love Lucy is always the perfect choice for comedy - I'll have to try having something on in the background next time I'm trying to create.
Your suggestions, and examples of how you put the pieces together, I find really helpful. I think I might be a bit too rigid in my thinking sometimes so ideas like snails as main characters wouldn't even cross my mind. Those are where the original ideas are hidden though so I will have to tap into that whimsical side of myself.
Scott, I really like your process of picking one prompt to be featured and starting from there. I get myself stuck because I'm trying to piece everything together all at once but your idea makes a lot of sense. I love coming up with ideas to make a credit card a weapon (maybe even maxing the card out could make it a weapon if, say the husband, gets mad at the wife for maxing it out and then kills her haha).
Yes, I've heard the old motto "write what you know" numerous times but it gets lost in the shuffle when I wind up with the most random concoction of prompts known to man haha. Great idea to consider people I know and place them in situations where they are interacting with the prompts. I'm getting excited to try these ideas out - Perhaps for Flash Fiction :-)
Tracy, I really need to work on making a list of ideas at the beginning so I have stuff to pull from. I do struggle with the worry that my idea will be too typical and everyone else will have written a similar story.
I love that idea, that the first idea that makes you want to stop running and jot stuff down is usually worthwhile. I don't run (I'm so out of shape haha) but I'll think if there is some other activity I can do while brainstorming and maybe that'll help get my creative juices flowing.
I did a bit of googling for the first round and it did actually help a bit but then I threw out the ideas that came from it when another idea formed. I'll probably use google a lot more in the future as it does provide a lot of helpful resources and ideas to pull from.
Your process sounds similar to Stephen King who has said that his stories usually start off with a "what if this character encountered this scenario..?" but usually the ideas have twists to them. I'm usually trying to match everything in my head but I think getting them down on paper would be much easier to mix and match and come up with something original.
I pick the prompt that is gong to be worst to work into whatever genre I get and try and come up with any story that could use that prompt. Then I try and work the other prompts into one of those ideas Oh, that's an interesting process. That makes sense though to nail down a solid idea with the prompt that is going to be the most troublesome and then feed in the other easier elements afterwards. I'll have to try that.
Do you have a website or anywhere that I could find info on the different genre tropes? I've tried searches online but haven't really come up with any good websites that offer info on the different genres. Or what I come up with seems more like info for directors. I looked up horror story tropes and they talked about lighting, music, etc. I've read Robert McKee's book "Story" and he suggested looking up the different tropes as well. He mentioned one for comedy which is that nobody ever gets hurt. Even if they get hit by a car or fall off a building, they are always fine and even if someone dies it's not a dire tragic thing. That was one trope that I found very useful and would love to find more for other genres as well. That would definitely help a lot as I'm writing.
I love this idea. As I've said, I usually don't jot anything down when I'm trying to formulate my idea but I will start from now on for sure.
I'll have to try that process - I usually try to come up with the scenario/plot first but probably the story would feel more organic and real if I started with a great character and let their actions move the story a bit. |
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JeffreyHowe
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 02 May 2017 Location: Missouri Status: Offline Points: 1966 |
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The character test for me is the first draft. I need to see them move, hear them speak, for them to become real enough to work with. And often by the end of the first draft they're different than they were at the beginning. The trick is noticing that's happening.
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Tim G
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 02 Nov 2016 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 6626 |
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Fourthed! Even if I'm too busy wrestling with the breadth and depth of your suggestions to thank you for providing them! And big thanks to everyone who beta'd my script this time. It's now one of those scripts where if it doesn't achieve anything, it will still get filed under 'no regrets' in my own headspace.
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Rhyming Story R2: Flying On Empty (Thriller)
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SisterRosetta
NYC Midnight Groupie Joined: 24 Jan 2018 Location: Oxford, UK Status: Offline Points: 178 |
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Thirded! Isn't this just like the final scene of It's a Wonderful Life, where he finds out just how many lives he's impacted?
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Tim G
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 02 Nov 2016 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 6626 |
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Yep, this is how you're supposed to do it. I wish I could!
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Rhyming Story R2: Flying On Empty (Thriller)
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